Architecture Commons^™

Community Identity: Place And The South Knoxville Waterfront, Nicholas Joseph Burger

Masters Theses

“With the loss of tactility and the scale and details crafted for the human body and hand, our structures become repulsively flat, sharp-edged, immaterial, and unreal” (Holl 29). Our built environment is full of constructs which are unsuccessful on a number of levels proving why it is critical to concentrate on a sense of place and identity. A great place is described as one where people gravitate towards, a place for everyone, something that is memorable, and a space which evokes a story (Placemaking Is...). South Knoxville, Tennessee, the selected site of this thesis, will test the concept of place …

Reconnecting The Urban Web: Chicago's Failed Olympic Hope, Eric Archer

Masters Theses

‘Towers in the park,’ a destructive urbanistic typology that gained notoriety with idealistic projects by Le Corbusier, are prevalent in American cities. This architectural and urban concept consists of mono-functional high-rise towers, typically residential, placed on a superblock of unprogrammed over-scaled greenspace. The original intention was to create order within the city and provide plenty of landscaping and urban space for the city’s occupants. Noble in goals, these mega-towers have been chastised for their lack of character, inappropriate scale, and the inability to create vibrant public space that promote interaction and community by creating an over concentration of segregated nodes …

The Role Of The Architect In The Process Of Development, Christopher Alan Owens

Masters Theses

Population growth and cars have caused cities to sprawl from their downtown cores, resulting in a landscape of low density building. Far too often the empty lot at the edge of the city or along a highway attracts the next opportunity for development, furthering the gap between residential and commercial zones. The profession of architecture recognizes that urban site selection and mixed-use programming is vital to the social and financial health of a city, though it typically only participates in the design of the building. However, the visionary training and practice of architecture places the architect in a unique position …

Network-Based Development In Chattanooga, Tennessee: Processes And Potentials, Kathryn Ansley Taylor

Masters Theses

Chattanooga is a city of networks. The goal of this project is to provide examples of how developers, by tapping into Chattanooga’s most vital networks, can create buildings that speak to the city’s unique character, build interest in the city, and foster a stronger future for Chattanooga.

Chattanooga has four networks that serve as its backbone. They are the Cultural Network, the Blue Green Network, the Fiber Optic Network and the Dwelling Network. These networks are linkages between people and places, bound by common hopes and affinities. They are platforms for social connection, economic growth and physical change.

Three developments …

Forgotten Infrastructure: The Future Of The Industrial Mundane, Whitney Ann Manahan

Masters Theses

The typical cycle of industrial use, disuse, and abandonment is no longer acceptable or feasible. This thesis investigates phased remediation and conversion of petrochemical structures and their respective sites with the intention of increasing both the socioeconomic vitality and environmental quality of the area.

The oil silo is an intriguing object and industrial artifact. Being close to one of these massive structures is captivating and there is something truly exciting and thought provoking about inhabiting a space that was clearly not meant for humans. These are qualities that provide opportunities to connect people with a site and create a place …

Layers Of Staro Sajmište [Re]Opening Dialog, Jared Samuel Wilkins

Masters Theses

This research analyzes and tests the application of a process driven memorial intervention on the contested territory of Staro Sajmište, Novi Belgrade’s former 1937 International Exposition Fairgrounds that was adapted into a concentration camp in 1941. Today, Staro Sajmište exists as makeshift living for an impoverished community. Traditional memorial and conservation efforts have been attempted on the site over the last 60 years; however, none have achieved an appropriate depth of impact. I propose to revisit Staro Sajmište through an intervention not recognized as a literal memorial, but rather as the transformation and re-appropriation of the urban fabric into an …

Constructing Terroir: Architectural Mitigation In Mono-Economies At Risk To Climate Change, Geneva Margaret Hill

Masters Theses

Climate change will have enormous implications for the future of architecture and design at all scales. Architectural discourse has recently focused mainly on preparing major cities to become the future sustainable centers of living for the world. Little has been discussed, however, about the future of smaller communities on the periphery and the implications of their loss to the diverse American cultural landscape.

Napa Valley contains many communities threatened by a changing climate. Napa Valley plays a major role in America’s culture as the heart of American winemaking. The success in Napa Valley wine is deeply rooted to the soil. …

Placial Identity, Garrett Keyes Nelli

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Dwell: Reinhabiting Elkmont, Joseph Wessels

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Integrating Engineering And Social Aspects In Selecting Stormwater Control Measures (Scms), Maudy Indriani Budipradigdo

Masters Theses

The Low Impact Development (LID) approach to stormwater management is rapidly becoming the required replacement for the traditional approach of development design, solely for peak runoff attenuation. Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) used in LID designs are some combination of physical structures and /or agronomic practices designed to capture runoff, remove pollutants, promote groundwater recharge, and protect receiving streams from channel degradation. The LID approach has been studied and documented in many journals and design manuals, but we know of no comprehensive study that combines the engineering (hydrologic performance requirements) and social aspects (complementary requirements) of the approach. SCMs have historically …

A City Divided: “Fragmented” Urban Space In 20th Century Buenos Aires, Marianela D'Aprile

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Permitting Memory, Cody Alan Rau

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Sounds Of The City: The Complete Musical Story, Julie Marie Davenport

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

By using a barren urban site and reworking part of the existing fabric of downtown, this project turns part of Jackson Avenue in downtown Knoxville into a vibrant music center and a concentration of creativity. Bringing all parts of the music industry to one building, this project provides a single place for musicians to gather, learn, create, and perform in order to achieve success in the music industry. This project began with the concept of revitalizing the Jackson Avenue area and extending the downtown to increase activity in this area. Much of Knoxville revolves around music, and people will be …